[Nutritional content in the daily diet from selected nursing homes for the aged in State of Hessen Second Report--minerals]. / Nhrstoffgehalt in Tagesverpflegungen ausgewählter hessischer Altenheime Zweite Mitteilung--Mineralstoffe.

Daily diet from 20 nursing homes for the elderly in the German state of Hessen were collected over a period of seven days. After weighing and protocoling, the components of the meals were combined to one sample per day. The homogenized samples were analyzed for the minerals sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, nickel, and chromium. For evaluation of the nutrient value the mineral contents were compared to the recommendations of the German Association for Nutrition (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung) for nutrient intake of the elderly. Whereas mean content of sodium and of calculated sodium chloride per day drastically exceeded the recommendation, the magnesium and chromium recommendations were not reached by far. Regarding high nutrient density requirements with respect to a lower energy demand, only a few diets could reach the recommendations for calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc density given for the elderly.

[Microbiological condition of bottled natural mineral waters, drinking water, as well as water from mineral springs]. / Zur mikrobiologischen Beschaffenheit von abgefülltem natürlichen Mineral-, Trink-, Tafel- und Quellwasser.

We are now in the midst of a critical discussion on the microbiological quality of bottled natural mineral water, springwater, so-called "table water" and drinking water. "Still" waters have high colony counts after long storage, whereas in carbonated bottled products multiplication of oligocarbophilic microorganisms is suppressed by carbon dioxide. Opportunistic species are also found in bottled water. Present knowledge as to whether they are contaminants or part of autochthonous flora is insufficient. Highly colonised foodstuffs and opportunistic species may be hazardous for immunosuppressed patients. Hence, it is claimed that existing legal microbiological criteria for bottled water are inadequate. High colony counts in foodstuffs do not necessarily imply poor microbiological quality a priori. Detection of an opportunist species does not justify classifying a food item as hazardous. Microbiological criteria for bottled water which are laid down in the Directive for Mineral and Table Water of the German Food Legislation Act (LMBG) were established based on recommendations by international microbiologists for the normal not oversensitive consumer. For more sensitive groups of consumers, for example babies, more severe criteria were set up. Immunosuppressed patients are another sensitive group, demanding special hygienic requirements for their surroundings. If the risk of infections for immunosuppressed patients cannot be reduced by other means, it might be useful to establish microbiological criteria for bottled water and of course for other foodstuffs as well. However, such criteria cannot be adequately applied to food for normal consumption, since otherwise many foods would have to be regarded as hazardous and could not be marketed because of legal prescriptions.

[Contribution of natural mineral water to the iodine supply of the population]. / Beitrag natürlicher Mineralwässer zur Iodidversorgung der Bevölkerung.

Most parts of Germany are iodine deficiency areas. Daily iodine intake may be increased by food with high iodine content. Therefore determination of iodine in different foodstuffs is of importance. Aim of our work was to develop a method for mineral waters. Besides, we wanted to find out to what extent natural mineral waters can contribute to the iodine supply of the population. The method is based on the reaction of the halogenids iodide and bromide with ethylene oxide in a sulfuric acid medium while converting into 2-iodo- and 2-bromoethanol. After extraction, the reaction products are determined by capillary gas chromatography with an electron capture detector. The method was modified for mineral waters. Single results were confirmed by ICP-MS. For mineral waters the limits of determination are 3 micrograms/L for iodide and 42 micrograms/L for bromide. The investigation of mineral waters from Hessen showed, that only few sources contain iodide in remarkable amounts. Therefore a considerable improvement of iodide intake is possible only with single mineral waters.

[Nutritional intake of daily diets in nursing homes for the aged. I--Energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and fiber]. / Nährstoffgehalt in Tagesverpflegungen ausgewählter hessischer Altenheime. Erste Mitteilung--Energie, Protein, Fett, Kohlenhydrate und Ballaststoffe.

Daily diet from 20 nursing homes for the elderly in the German state of Hessen was collected over a period of 7 days. Caloric free beverages were not included. After weighing and protocoling, the components of the meals were combined to one sample per day. Energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and dietary fiber content was determined by analytical methods and by calculation using the nutrient table Federal Foodstuffs Key (Bundeslebensmittelschlüssel). Mean calculated contents exceeded analytical determined data except for dietary fibre. In comparison to the recommendations of the German Association for Nutrition (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung) concerning nutrient intake of the elderly, energy, fat and protein content of the daily diet were too high. Carbohydrate content did not reach the recommendations, being at least 50% of energy intake. It is remarkable that dietary fibre content exceeded the recommendations of 30 grams per day. In Hessen a similar study was already done in 1982. Regarding energy, protein, fat and carbohydrate content, only negligible changes could be stated since that time.

[Absorption and renal elimination of bismuth from 6 different bismuth salts after a single dosage]. / Resorption und renale Elimination von Bismut aus sechs verschiedenen Bismutsalzen nach einmaliger Dosierung.

The absorption and renal excretion of bismuth from seven pharmaceutical bismuth preparations was studied in five healthy volunteers. Following a single oral dose of colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), basic bismuth salicylate (BSS), basic bismuth gallate (BSG), basic bismuth carbonate (BSC), bismuth aluminate (BA) and two different basic bismuth nitrate (BSN) preparations, ingested one hour prior to the breakfast, containing 350 mg bismuth in all but one bismuth subnitrate compound, the latter was given in a 1480 mg dose laid on granulated gum karaya, the bismuth serum concentrations (0 to 6 h) and urinary excretion (for 2 days) were measured. Slight amounts of bismuth were rapidly absorbed in all experiments with low transient mean peak concentrations between 0.6 (BSN) and 9.1 micrograms/l (CBS)--reached within 20-60 min--with a wide intra- und interindividual variability. The highest peak serum bismuth concentration was 18 micrograms/l in response to CBS. The median integrated 6-hour serum bismuth concentration after dosing with CBS and BSG was 49 and 32 ng h/ml, respectively, after dosing with BSC, BA, BSS, BSN and BSN1480 13, 11, 3, 0 and 5 ng h/ml, respectively. The values for CBS were significantly greater than after BSS and BSN350. There was a very strong overall correlation between 48-h urinary bismuth excretions and the corresponding integrated 6-hour serum bismuth concentrations (p < 0.001).